


take care of me

by voidisa



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Sick Character, Sickfic, it's just a head cold I swear, not the coronavirus, vanitas is a brat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:42:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26243605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidisa/pseuds/voidisa
Summary: Vanitas is sick. Ven wants to help. But Vanitas isn't going to make it easy.
Relationships: Vanitas/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 75





	take care of me

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! I was missing this ship pretty bad, and I thought this might be a good idea, despite the circumstances of *gestures vaguely* everything. Hope you enjoy!

Aqua had begged Ven not to go on a mission alone. He had just woken up, she had just gotten back from the Realm of Darkness, they had just defeated Xehanort, why could he not at least wait until she and Terra were free before he went roaming on his own? Ven hadn’t quite been able to explain it to her, but he knew that he had to do something on his own, not just constantly wait around for someone to escort him, to treat him like he was some child. If he ever hoped to be a Keyblade Master like her one day -- and he did -- then he had to start proving himself somewhere. Just because Xehanort was gone didn’t mean they were done fighting. It was still good to keep an eye on all of the Worlds. 

Now that he had reached Dwarf Woodlands, however, he was starting to have his doubts. Although he hadn’t seen any enemies so far in the hour or so since he’d touched down, he still felt like something was incredibly off, like there was something lying in wait in the shadows for him. Maybe something he had never seen before, something he wouldn’t know how to fight. 

He pulled out his Gummiphone from his pocket, checking for any messages from his friends. Just a notification from Kingstagram that Xion had liked his picture of him with Aqua and Terra at Destiny Islands. He pulled up the app and stared at the picture. Terra had gotten incredibly tan from that trip, and even Aqua had gotten some color. Ven just burned. It took an entire week for that ugly, crisp pink color to leave, but it had left some freckles in its wake.

In the picture, they were sitting beside a sandcastle that they had all built together. Aqua had a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses on, and she was holding up a peace sign, while Ven sat next to her with their little bucket and pail they had used and Terra smiled and held the phone. They all looked so normal, like they hadn’t all just lived in hell for more than a decade of their lives. It was like they’d never left each other’s sides. 

He sighed. Maybe he should have let them come with him. He missed them when they weren’t around. 

As he stuffed his phone back in his pocket, he heard a rustling sound from somewhere behind him, and his entire body tensed in response. His grip on his keyblade tightened and slowly, he turned his head, halfway expecting to see a horde of Heartless running at him, but there was nothing. Just a bunch of trees and bushes. 

Then someone sneezed. He might have been alarmed had it not sounded like a cute little kitten sneezing, but now he was just intrigued. Chirithy had promised to stay at the Land of Departure and give him some space, so that couldn’t be it. Hadn’t there been a dwarf that was sick all the time?

“Hello?” he called timidly. “Sneezy?” 

The only response was another sneeze, then two, then three, shooting off rapidly like fireworks. Ven raised his weapon just as the bushes rustled again and a few globular, jellylike creatures stumbled out, moving around like dazed zombies. Their edges were tinged green like mucus, their skin an ashy gray. When they settled their gaze on Ven, they slowly started dragging themselves forward to him, and he cut them down in one swift slice of his keyblade. 

Unversed, though they didn’t look like normal Unversed. They looked...gross. Grosser than normal. 

As soon as he looked back up, he saw Vanitas pushing his way through the leaves, keyblade in hand, coughing and hacking like a cat about to throw up. Ven wrinkled his nose, taking a couple of steps back to avoid the flying spit, and said, “Vanitas?” 

Vanitas’s eyes looked dull. His skin was just as ashen as the Unversed, if not worse, and his face was covered in sweat. Whereas the spikes of his hair usually looked styled, now they lay flat against his skin or wildly untamed, rumpled in different directions like a bird’s nest. As he raised his keyblade toward Ven, Ven noticed that his hands were shaking. He could barely even stand up. 

“Yeah, it’s me,” Vanitas replied, and Ven pursed his lips, trying to suppress the giggle that was bubbling up inside of him. It wasn’t working. He quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, shaking his head. Vanitas’s nose was stopped up. He was talking like he had cotton balls shoved in his mouth. “I’ve been tracking you for a long time, and it’s time to --” He paused, his nose wrinkling, and he let out another unguarded sneeze. Ven grimaced. “It’s time to put an end to this.” 

Ven raised an eyebrow. “Are you sick?” 

“What? No. I’m…” More coughing. “I’m not sick. I don’t get sick. I’m just…” 

“What do you mean you don’t get sick? Everyone gets sick.” Ven put his keyblade away and stepped closer to him. Maybe in another life, he would have used the opportunity to cut Vanitas down while he was vulnerable, but that wasn’t entirely fair. And plus, he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to attack him at all. Besides, Vanitas couldn’t do any damage to him like this. He could barely hold his head up. “It’s probably just a cold or allergies. Can I...just check your --” 

“No!” Vanitas exclaimed, swatting Ven’s hand away with surprising strength. Ven staggered back, staring wide-eyed at him as he sneezed over and over and over again, then wiped at his watery eyes. His cheeks were flushed. “I’m not sick, okay? I’ve never been sick, and I’m not gonna start now! So get your keyblade out and fight me right this --” He coughed so violently that his own keyblade flew out of his hands, and several Unversed materialized at his feet. They looked like giant blobs of snot. Ven almost didn’t even want to use his keyblade to wipe them out, but he did, and it made his stomach turn. 

“Stop it!” Ven yelled, pressing his keyblade to Vanitas’s throat gently as he lunged for his weapon lying on the ground. “You. Are. Sick. You need to rest.”   
Vanitas turned his head a little, his dull eyes meeting Ven’s, and he smirked. “Are you finally gonna kill me? It would be a really good time --” 

Ven sighed in frustration and tossed his keyblade to the side, where it clattered on top of Vanitas’s. Maybe dangerous, he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t really care at the moment. Slowly, he inched his way forward, holding his hand out in a non-threatening sort of way like he was approaching a feral animal and pressed the back of his hand to Vanitas’s forehead. Vanitas recoiled and hissed something under his breath, but he looked too weak to even fight back. 

“You’ve got a fever,” Ven said. “You should be in bed right now.” 

“I don’t want to be in bed,” Vanitas argued, crossing his arms over his chest. “I want to be fighting --” 

“Drink this.” Ven dug around in his bag until he found his bottle of water and thrust it into Vanitas’s hands, scowling. “You’re probably dehydrated.” 

“I’m not dehydrated because I’m not sick.” More wheezing. It was getting worse, but Vanitas was trying to hide it. He threw the water down on the ground, turning his head away defiantly. 

Ven sighed, picking it up and holding it close to his chest. “You’re the most insufferable person ever, you know?” he said. “You’re actually the worst. I’m so glad that we’re separated so I don’t have to deal with you all the time.” 

Vanitas smirked, though it didn’t hold any sort of feeling behind it. His eyes were half-closed, and he looked like he was about to pass out. Ven pressed his hand to Vanitas’s forehead again, trying not to gag. His skin felt all moist and clammy, and it was disgusting. 

“Oh, come on, Ventus,” Vanitas purred as he placed his finger under Ven’s chin, forcing their eyes to meet. His voice was hoarse. It sounded like he had inhaled sawdust. “You know you wouldn’t mind having me around. I bet you dream about me all the time.” 

“Do not,” Ven retorted, handing him the water again, but even as he said it, he could feel his stomach flip with the lie. He averted his eyes, grabbing his keyblade and hoping to whatever deities existed out there that Vanitas didn’t notice the blush creeping up his neck and cheeks. 

He hated him. Even when Vanitas was sick, he could bring out these feelings that Ven had never felt for anyone else. It didn’t even make any sense, really, and Ven tried not to ever confront that part of him because Vanitas was evil, pure darkness, and trying to explain something like that to himself and to Aqua and Terra just wouldn’t work. Because it shouldn’t work. 

But Vanitas was attractive. Of course, he had Sora’s face, but there was something different about him, something that drew Ven to him like a magnet. Maybe it was the fact that they were supposed to be one being, never separated from one another. Or maybe it was the dark hair, the yellow eyes, the devilish smile, the risk of danger. Every second living in Vanitas’s presence was a risk. 

Vanitas sneezed and sniffled. His eyes were rimmed red, his skin so pale it was nearly translucent. And gods help him, Ven still thought he might want to try kissing him when he was all better. 

“Terra and I found this little abandoned cottage in the woods,” Ven said. “We’ve come here a few times and started fixing it up for us to use for when we visit. There’s a bed, and I can make you some soup.” 

Vanitas scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m gonna stay right here until I feel better, and then I’m gonna come find you, and we’ll fight.” 

Now it was Ven’s turn to roll his eyes. Vanitas was already stooped over, wavering from left to right like he was about to tip over. His eyes were bleary, unfocused. As he coughed once more, he stumbled and hit the ground. Ven raised an eyebrow, his lips pursed into a thin line. “You okay?” 

“I’m fine,” Vanitas grumbled, raking a hand through his already messy hair. It was dangling in front of his eyes, brushing across his feverish skin. “Just got a little...dizzy...but I’ll be okay.”

“No, you won’t,” Ven said. “I mean, eventually, you will, but I can help you get better faster if you just let me --” 

“Why do you even want to help me?” Vanitas asked. “After everything I’ve put you through, and you want to whisk me off to some cabin in the woods? Sounds like an elaborate murder plot to me. Wouldn’t be the first time you’ve murdered someone, right?” His smile spread across his face, his gaze tracing over Ven’s body as if he was unpeeling him layer by layer. 

Ven felt his skin prickle, and he quickly looked away, scooping up their weapons. He had no idea what Vanitas was talking about, and frankly, he didn’t think Vanitas did either. He was just trying to get a rise out of him, that was all. Well, he’d gotten it, and Ven was panicking as he tried to piece together something that would make even the slightest bit of sense, but there were no memories there, just a dark gray area and Chirithy floating somewhere in the midst of it. 

He couldn’t have…

No. Vanitas was lying. 

“Or maybe it’s not even about murder at all,” Vanitas said, when he realized that Ven wasn’t going to respond to him. “Maybe it’s because you’re just so perfect and so good and so kind and so pure. You literally can’t do anything bad, can you, Ventus? You just keep on shining that light and flaunting it all over the Worlds. I hate you so, so --” 

“It’s hard to take you seriously when it sounds like you’re choking on your own tongue,” Ven said, turning to face him again with the keyblades in his hands. Vanitas frowned, his expression contorting like he had just been slapped, and that brought a smile to Ven’s face. He enjoyed the few victories he had meeting Vanitas’s rage and sarcasm.”Now get up. I’m taking you to the cottage. And I’m trusting you won’t find some way to destroy it when you get better.” 

“No promises.” Vanitas was finally drinking the water that Ven had given him. Chugging it, really. He was gulping it down like he hadn’t had anything in weeks. Ven watched him in fascination, the way his throat moved with each swallow, and finally, Vanitas tossed the bottle away, wiping at his mouth. His lips curled up into a smirk. “What?” 

“W-what?” Ven said, drawing himself out of his thoughts. “Nothing. Let’s go.” He felt like he had been lit on fire again. Vanitas’s gaze didn’t really help with that. He could barely even look him in the eyes. 

“I love it when you get all flustered,” Vanitas said, and Ven froze, every inch of his body feeling as if it had been encapsulated in ice. Did he detect a flirtatious tone in Vanitas’s gross, sickly voice? Surely not. Surely it was just part of his imagination. Vanitas hated him. He would never…

Would he? 

He was messing with him. Had to be. 

Ven looked up, their eyes meeting for one brief, tense moment before Vanitas sneezed again, producing more snotty-looking Unversed dancing around him. 

Ven whacked them out of existence yet again, his nose wrinkling as he fought back another gag. He could take blood, but this was just unnecessarily gross. “You’re disgusting,” he said. 

Vanitas frowned, his lower lip poking out into a pout. Ven could see the light of mischief and mayhem dancing in his eyes. “I’m so sick,” he whined. “Will you carry me?” 

“No!” Ven exclaimed, poking him hard in the side with a keyblade. “You can get up and walk yourself. It’s just down there.” He pointed into the forest. “Just a short walk.” 

Vanitas coughed. The first fake cough Ven had heard from him, and Ven knew that he was just pressing buttons, seeing which one would make him detonate, which one would tap into all of those negative feelings he tried so hard to avoid. “I don’t think I can make it…”

But Ven wasn’t going to let him get to him. Not yet. He stowed the keyblades away and forced a smile as he grabbed Vanitas underneath his arms, hoisting him to his feet. Well, trying to hoist him to his feet. Vanitas had gone completely limp and was making it incredibly difficult for Ven to do much of anything. If he was doing this to someone else, Ven might have even laughed at him or thought it to be kind of cute, but he wasn’t doing it to someone else. He was doing it to him. And he was completely irritated. 

“Fine,” he said, letting go of Vanitas and watching with the tiniest of smiles as he slumped to the ground into a heap. “You can just stay here. I’ll go to my cottage and have a nice meal and sleep in a nice, comfy bed. Have fun on the ground.” 

Vanitas rolled over onto his back, his limbs splayed out like a star. He looked broken and pitiful. “You would really leave me like this? When I’m so, so sick?” 

Ven sighed, rolling his eyes. Of course he wouldn’t, and Vanitas knew it. He simultaneously wanted to punch him, tuck him into bed, and kiss him. It was infuriating. “No, but you’re gonna have to help me, okay? Get it? Help? You’re probably not familiar with the term.” 

“Didn’t know you were so capable of an attitude, Ventus. I like you better this way.” Something twinkled in Vanitas’s piercing gaze, something unfamiliar to Ven, something that made his stomach feel all fluttery. He had to look away as he helped Vanitas to his feet again, careful not to make any direct eye contact. If he looked at him now, then Vanitas would know everything. He would know he had long buried the hooks inside of Ven and could get just about anything he wanted out of him. 

And Ven still didn’t even understand why. Especially looking at the snotty, sniffling mess in front of him now. He shouldn’t feel this way, but he did, and there was no escaping it. 

“I can walk,” Vanitas said, pushing himself up shakily to his feet. He wobbled slightly and fell against Ven’s side, his hand brushing across Ven’s arm, and the touch was so light, so feathery, so un-Vanitas that Ven jerked himself away in a panic, breathing hard and unable to contain the fire igniting in his veins. He stared at Vanitas as if he had attacked him, his eyes wide and his cheeks burning, and Vanitas stared back, halfway between confusion and amusement. He opened his mouth to say something, and then his eyelids fluttered and he fell against Ven again.

“I-it’s okay,” Ven said, reaching out to grab Vanitas around the waist so he wouldn’t fall. “I can carry you like this. Just try to stay awake, okay? This looks really bad.” 

Vanitas sniffled, shaking his head. “I’ll survive. I’ve survived worse.”   
Ven smiled a little. There was no harshness, no mockery in his tone at all. Perhaps nursing him back to health wouldn’t be so bad.

* * *

The cottage was just as warm and cozy as Ven and Terra had left it last time they visited. It was a few kilometers away from the cottage where the dwarves lived, tucked away into a sunny little clearing with the perfect amount of shade provided by big, lofty trees. There had been no furniture here when they found it, and the place was covered in dirt and cobwebs and mold, obviously abandoned for a very long time. Ven had never really crafted anything in his life, but Terra had thought it would be fun for the two of them to make everything from scratch together as a sort of bonding project. 

Of course, Ven had readily agreed, and now, the place was a work in progress with furniture that they had created themselves. So far, they had managed to create a bed, a table with two chairs, and a nightstand. They’d renovated the cabinets and put in a little oven, stove, and microwave, and they’d brought a few things from home like lamps and paintings and blankets that they no longer used to liven the place up. There was still a lot missing, but it was starting to feel like a nice escape for them. Ven had even come here on his own when he could manage to sneak away, just to get a breath of fresh air and a new perspective on everything. But most of the time, it was him and Terra. Aqua had yet to visit the little hideaway, but it already felt like it was just as much hers as it was theirs. 

Now, Ven was tainting all of it by bringing Vanitas here. What would Terra think knowing that Ven had brought the very incarnation of evil right into their safe place? This was supposed to be a secret, a comfort, and now…

Vanitas sneezed, and Ven checked his temperature again. Still running a fever. He thought he was doing the right thing. 

“There was talk of soup,” Vanitas said as Ven led him toward the bed. His bed. Terra always let Ven sleep there when they visited, and he crashed on a beat-up mattress they’d dragged from home while they worked on another bed frame. Now, Vanitas was going to be sleeping in _Ven’s_ bed, and it made him squirm. 

“Yeah,” Ven replied. He let go of Vanitas, letting him slowly drop onto the bed. Much to his surprise, Vanitas took care of situating himself and dragging the blankets over his body. He’d actually expected he would have to do everything, but Vanitas probably just didn’t want him touching him. The less contact, the better. “Do you want chicken noodle? That’s what Aqua always makes me when I’m sick.” 

“Ugh…” Vanitas threw his head back dramatically against the fluffy pillow and thrashed underneath the covers. “I don’t want you to do anything. I’m supposed to be fighting you, and now you’re treating me like a baby.” 

“Am not. I’m just being a good friend.” 

Vanitas snorted. “Friend? Ventus, don’t be ridiculous.” 

“You can just call me Ven.” He turned his back before he could see the look on Vanitas’s face and went to the cabinets, searching for a can of soup. He could still hear him spluttering like an idiot behind him as he tried to come up with a response, and that made him smile a little. 

“I’m not calling you that. That would imply we were close.” 

“We are, aren’t we? You’re the other half of me. I’d say that that’s as close as two people could be.” 

“You must be obsessed with me. You make me sick.” 

Ven stopped with his hand on the drawer as he searched for a can opener, pursing his lips as he shook his head. “No, Vanitas, you’re sick because of some sort of bacteria, and if anyone is obsessed, it’s you. I wasn’t the one stalking through the woods. Now shut up and get a little rest while I make this for you.” 

Vanitas was silent, and Ven chanced a look over his shoulder to see what he was doing. Lying there with his eyes closed, blankets tucked up underneath his chin as he pretended to sleep. He rolled his eyes. Bad idea to like someone that was this annoying. 

Soup was easy, so it only took Ven a few minutes to get it heated and pour it into a bowl. When he turned around, he expected to find Vanitas fast asleep, but instead, he was rolled over on his side staring at him with wide, very alert eyes. It startled Ven so much that he staggered backward and splashed a little hot soup onto himself. 

“What?” he demanded, wiping away the mess with a towel. His eyebrows furrowed in frustration. It felt like Vanitas was plotting something, despite Ven being as nice as he possibly could to him. He couldn’t let his guard down, not even for a second. “What are you looking at?” 

“Making sure you weren’t poisoning my food,” Vanitas replied, but his voice wavered just slightly, and as Ven approached the bed, he noticed that he couldn’t quite make eye contact with him. Strange. 

“Why would I?” Ven asked, propping the pillow up against the headboard and fluffing it as he handed Vanitas the bowl. “And where would I get poison, anyway?”   
Vanitas shrugged. “There’s a wicked witch living around here, isn’t there? She poisoned the princess.” 

Ven crossed his arms over his chest, smirking. “Well, I won’t poison you. Princess.” 

Vanitas shot him a glare and scooped up some of the soup in the spoon, bringing it shakily to his mouth. His eyelids fluttered, and he trembled so badly that the spoon’s contents just kept splashing back into the bowl. His nose wrinkled, and after sucking in a ragged breath, he sneezed, and the spoon clattered onto the bed. His head lolled to the side, and he groaned. 

“Do you need help?” Ven asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No. I can…” Vanitas shook his head. His skin looked terribly greenish-gray, and the way his eyes were moving, it made Ven think he was going to pass out. He quickly moved back to the bed, just in case Vanitas fell, but he seemed to recover himself as Ven got closer to him. He swatted Ven’s outstretched hand away. “I don’t need you to take care of me, okay? Just…leave me alone! In fact…” He tossed the bowl to the side, and soup splattered all across the floor. Ven had to hop backward to avoid being hit again. “Just get out of my way. I’m going somewhere else until I feel better.” 

“You really shouldn’t --” Ven tried to tell him, but Vanitas was not listening as he staggered to his feet, swaying from side to side. Ven grabbed him just before he tumbled to the ground and eased him back onto the bed. 

“Stop it!” Vanitas exclaimed, pushing him away again. “This is nothing. You’re treating me like a baby, and --” 

“You’ve never been sick before! Just let me help you!” 

“Why? So you can put another gold star in your achievements? So everyone will think you’re just the sweetest, most perfect person that ever existed?” 

He was seething now. His eyes flashed a dangerous, dark golden color, and he had his teeth gritted and hands clenched into fists as if he was ready to lash out and punch Ven at any second. Ven readied himself in case he had to draw his keyblade. He wouldn’t feel good about fighting Vanitas in this state, but technically it was self-defense…

“That’s not why I’m helping you,” he said, putting as much venom behind his words as he could. 

“Then why? I don’t understand it! Why help someone when you don’t get anything in return?” 

Ven sighed, raking a hand through his hair. He watched as a bead of sweat rolled down Vanitas’s cheek and settled on his chin. He didn’t look nearly as feral anymore, just...confused. And maybe a little broken. “I can’t really explain it,” he said. “Not in a way that would make sense to you. It’s just this feeling you get. Sympathy, I guess. I feel sorry for you.” 

Vanitas made a noise as if he were choking on a large rock. “You feel sorry for me?” 

Ven shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, you’re all alone. And you don’t have friends. And you have no idea what it feels like for someone to care about you. But you should. Because I do care about you. You’re my friend. And when you’re friends with someone, you want to help them.” 

Vanitas stared at him for a long moment, obviously unsure of what to say. His mouth curved into a frown, and his body sagged a little against the bed. Finally, he looked up at Ven, his eyes narrowing as he started to hiss out some terrible insult. Instead, he sneezed again. 

Ven couldn’t help himself. He laughed, and before he could stop his mouth from betraying him, he said, “You’re so cute when you sneeze.” 

Every muscle in his body grew rigid as he looked up at Vanitas, his blue eyes meeting pools of amber, and he felt his heart accelerate as it began turning cartwheels in his chest. What the hell had he been thinking? Now, it didn’t matter that Vanitas was sick, because he was going to kill Ven. He was going to -- 

“Oh, so that’s why,” Vanitas said, his lips curling into a tiny smirk. “You’re gross.” 

“M-me?” Ven asked, gesturing to himself. “I didn’t mean...I just thought --” 

“You have a big, fat, disgusting crush on me,” Vanitas said, humming contentedly to himself as he flopped back onto the bed. “And after all the times I’ve tortured you and tried to kill you. Hmm. What does that say about you? I’d say you’re the one that’s sick here, not me.” 

Ven clenched his fists. He could feel his fingernails biting into his skin, and he chewed his bottom lip as he nervously tried to think of words to say. Something, anything. He couldn’t let Vanitas hold this over him. 

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” he said. 

“Then what, pray tell, did you mean?” Vanitas rolled over onto his stomach, his chin resting in his hands as he studied Ven with an expression that was unsettlingly similar to the Cheshire cat he’d seen in Wonderland a few weeks ago. It made his stomach turn flips. 

“I just meant...I thought…” Ven ground his teeth together, then held his hands up in surrender. “Fine. You’re cute. But that doesn’t really mean anything. I don’t like you or anything.” 

Vanitas sniffled, wiping at his runny eyes, and poked his lower lip out into a pout. “Oh, why not? Am I not good enough for you?” 

Ven’s gaze traveled over his whole body, coiled tightly like a snake ready to strike. He had half a mind to think that Vanitas was faking being sick, just so that he could torture him in a different way, but he shook that thought out of his head. Nobody could fake looking this awful. Not even Vanitas. All he had to do was steer the conversation in a different direction. 

“Do you want some more soup?” 

“Will you feed it to me?” 

Ven’s jaw locked. “No. You can do it yourself.” 

“But I’m so weak, Ven!” Vanitas exclaimed, flopping onto his back again. “I feel so numb. And so...cold.” He shivered in such an overdramatic way that Ven couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Will you tuck me in so I can get warm?” 

“You’re actually the worst,” Ven said, but he found his feet moving before he could do anything to stop himself, and he dragged the blanket out from underneath Vanitas and then placed it gently on top of him, pulling it up to his chin and then tucking it in at the sides. Vanitas coughed. His face was glowing with sweat. Ven pressed his hand to Vanitas’s forehead and found that he felt warmer than before. “You need to get some rest. Then when you wake up, I’ll make you some soup.” 

Vanitas blinked, looking almost innocent for a moment. Then slowly, he smiled, the most predatory expression that Ven had ever seen. Like a wolf, but somehow worse. “What’s the diagnosis, Doctor Ven? Flu? Or something worse?” 

“I think it’s just a head cold, but I --” Ven stopped. There was a warmth spreading through his veins like the sun, and he smiled. “You called me Ven.” 

Vanitas’s eyes narrowed into a glare, then slowly, his eyelids slid all the way down and he rolled away, turning his back to Ven. 

Ven grabbed his shoulder and shook him. “Hey! Don’t pretend to go to sleep to get out of talking to me! You called me Ven! That must mean --” 

“So. Cold.” 

Ven rolled his eyes again and let out a breath of defeat. “You’re so full of shit.” 

“Ventus!” Vanitas exclaimed, his eyes widening with delight. “Language. I didn’t know you had it in you. I’m impressed” 

Ven shrugged nonchalantly. He hoped his cheeks weren’t burning red from the compliment. “Get some rest, okay? I’ll be around if you need me.” 

Vanitas snuggled up underneath the blankets. It seemed like all of the fight had finally left him, and he was at least calming down for the time being. After he woke up, well...Ven would deal with that later. 

“Need anything right now?” he asked. 

Vanitas shook his head sleepily as he rolled over onto his side. His hair fell into his already closed eyes, and Ven watched in fascination as his muscles slowly started to unfurl and he relaxed against the comfortable bed. He stood by for a few minutes, somewhere between fearing that Vanitas would get up and strike him down and hoping that he would wake up and say something nice, but he didn’t think either of them were going to happen. Especially after Vanitas’s breathing slowed into an easy, quiet rhythm. 

When he was about ninety-nine percent sure that Vanitas was asleep, he tiptoed over to the bed and reached out to touch him again, his fingers brushing his hair back gently out of his eyes. His heart swelled three sizes bigger as he looked at him, and it felt like a wild flock of hummingbirds had been let loose in his chest. He had never seen Vanitas so vulnerable, so peaceful. It was…

Cute. Vanitas was cute. And there was no one here to mock him now. 

Before he could stop himself, he leaned down and pressed the slightest hint of a kiss to Vanitas’s forehead, not even caring about the sweat or the warmth beneath him. He wanted Vanitas to feel better. He hoped that affection would help. 

“What are you doing?” Vanitas asked, his eyes cracking open just a little bit as he tilted his head to meet Ven’s gaze. Their faces were a mere inch apart. Ven felt lightning crackle through his bones. 

“I was...uh…” There wasn’t any good way to explain himself. There really wasn’t any good way to explain himself when Vanitas was looking at him like that, so softly and tenderly and half-asleep in a dreamy daze. “I…” 

Before he could stutter out another word, Vanitas grabbed his shirt and jerked him downward, their lips meeting painfully and harshly in a somewhat violent kiss. Ven was so caught off-guard that he stood there frozen for a few seconds, but once his brain caught up with what was going on, he leaned in to it, allowing Vanitas to take the lead as he closed his eyes and pressed forward, deepening the kiss. 

His head swirled. All of the world fell away. Nothing and everything made sense all at the same time. All he could think was how perfect this moment was and how long he had desired it to happen. Then the reality of the situation crashed down on him, and he pulled himself away, breathing heavily. He realized then that his hands were caught in Vanitas’s hair, and he was practically leaning over him now, almost on top of him, and Vanitas’s hands were resting warmly, comfortingly, on his back. 

“I’m going to get sick now,” he said. 

Vanitas shrugged, smirking. “Oops.” 

Ven grinned and fell forward again, placing a quick, chaste kiss to Vanitas’s lips and then to the tip of his nose. “I don’t mind. I just...want to be with you.” The taste of the words was bittersweet on his tongue. He searched Vanitas’s face for some sort of answer, some sort of sign that Vanitas felt the same way, but he was met with just a blank stare. 

“Then stay with me,” Vanitas said. “And when you get sick then…” He coughed, though it sounded more like a sound of disgust. “Then maybe I can return the favor.” 

Ven smiled, curling up on the bed next to Vanitas. “It’s a deal.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to review! Also, if you have some Ven/Van content you're proud of, please share it with me because I will devour it.


End file.
